Abit of trouble

[Redemption]

ok, by no means am I a mechanic. So I turn to others for help. atthe moment, I need abit of it. I have a 72 amc javelin of cource, with a 401 6.6l in it. and its sputtering,misfiring, backfiring, etc. When I have the tranny serviced(I brought the car back to life from sitting 5 years) the tran-man said the mufflers were bad, as when he drove the car to make sure the car was shifting fine, he said he "blew one of the mufflers all to hell" so I figured maybe all that was caused by backflow from the clogged mufflers. had them replaced with two brand new flowmasters, and new 2 inch(factory size) pipes. still having the same problems. cleaned the carb, still the same problems. talked to one guy on the phone, about having the carb possibly rebuilt, he says it might not need it, asked me how it started in the morning. Well, it has abit of trouble in the morning, as it can take me up to 15 minutes to get it to idle at what sounds the right place. he said something or other aobut fluid bowl, something about a float, etc etc. He talked fast and had a thick accent that made him abit hard to comprehend. anyone have any clues as to whats going on with the car?

[RandyJ]

First I would check all the vacumn lines to make sure they are not split. A major vacumn leak would cause the start up symptoms and can cause back fires. Also, have someone check the EGR valve if you have one. If it is open you have a direct vacumn leak to the intake manifold from the exhaust.

Second, I would check the distributor cap for cracks (black lines on the inside between posts) and the plug wires. One easy check for arcing wires is to park in a dark area, pop open the hood and shut the lights off. Arcing wires should be glowing under the hood.

[jeepsr4ever]

I second whaty randy says and add this

1. Your distributor bushings may be out causing a constant off time (popping only comes from leaning or off time)
2. You may have jumped your timing chain once


Try hooking a timing light or bring it to a shop that can and if the timing is erratic your dizzy is shot.

[Redemption]

The wires and plugs are new, and are properly gapped(made sure) so I'm fairly sure they arent the bad guy here, Im going out in a minute to check the cap and rotor button underneath the be sure. Thanks for the help, I will keep you updated.

[jeepsr4ever]

yeah post updates!

You got me very curious on this one redemption

[Redemption]

I checked the cap and button, everything is fine there, and I think all the vacuum lines are fine, except i find something curious. What is the Pcv valve suposed to be running to? there is a line coming out of it, with one line running to something labeled "fuel tank", with a General Motors sign on it. but there is also a space for another line(or hose) to be attached to, but there is nothing there, just capped off, sort of, with what appears to be the tip of a.....pencil.(I didnt put it there!) I'll try and get a pic, any clue whats going on here?

[jeepsr4ever]

sounds like it was going to a charcoal canister but ..hmmmm

[Redemption]

Im starting to think it is infact the timing, as someone is telling me the car is running rich. I drove the javelin today, and it started smoking, with a heavy gas smell.

[Redemption]

my alternator light came on(been expecting this), so I had it checked at autozone. the guy there told me it was fine, so I replaced the voltage regulator(looked pretty beat up anyways). The alternator light is still on, and my headlights dim and flicker, along with other things such as my gauge lights. my gauges dont act properly at the moment either, so I assume I will have to replace the alternator. Maybe autozone should train their employees abit better. or just that one guy..

[Littlewolf]

Before you buy an alternater check all of you ground wires ,it sounds like you getting a power loss in the system somewhere, it could be the alternater but time spent on checking wires is a lot cheaper.